I’ve always heard Johnny Legend and others refer to this theatre as the “Hawaiian Gardens” (which always threw me because this place is nowhere near the actual L.A. suburb of Hawaiian Gardens). I suppose that was a tie-in to the popular Florentine Gardens nightclub next door.
Now that there is a dustup involving the city wanting to seize the Florentine Gardens property for a new fire station, does anyone know if that would include this building as well?
This and the Vogue theatre have had their leases taken over by club owner and film producer Elie Samaha, and he is not interested in reopening them as theatres, sad to say.
I guess it can be told now. Elie Samaha, who created White Lotus and the Sunset Room (and owns Franchise Pictures), bought the remaining years of the original leases that Mann had on both the Vogue and the Iris (a/k/a Fox) on Hollywood Blvd. I think this covers only the theatres, not the actual land; that may still be tied up with the Mann heirs. And he is dead set on turning them into nightclubs; he even turned down an offer from Sage Stallone (co-owner of repertory company Grindhouse Releasing, and son of Sylvester, who has made films for Samaha) to rehab one or both of them.
These are actually two separate theatre buildings in separate shopping centers that, in their last decade of operation, were deceptively linked together as “one theatre” by then-operators Mid-States Theatres, maybe for the purpose of simplifying their location in the public mind.
Originally, the Tri-County Theatre at 11500 Princeton Pike was a three screen theatre near the Cassinelli Square shopping center, and the twin down the street at 11670 Princeton Pike was part of the Princeton Plaza shopping center and called the Princeton. In 1980, two additional screens were added to the Tri-County and it was rechristened the 1-5, while the Princeton’s name was changed to the Tri-County 6-7.
The 1-5 has been demolished. The 6-7 was gutted and a chain bookstore now occupies that space.
In it’s final days, it had changed it’s name to the Roxy, and operated as a sort of second-tier art house, playing movies that either the Drexel Theatres (Columbus' prime art theatres) didn’t want to play, or had already played out but still had a little business left in them. They also did a lot of interesting midnight movies, premiereing many Troma films. The last movie they played was Vincent Ward’s VIGIL.
In the early ‘90’s, cult musician/wrestling promoter/Andy Kaufman collaborator Johnny Legend presented movie events on one of the screens of the X, which I believe was renamed the Hawaiian Gardens to tie in with the Florentine Gardens nightclub that was next door. Legend says that at least once, the manager of the place got violent with him, which explains why his movie nights did not go on for very long.
At last look, the building is still standing, if someone felt brave enough to give it another go. No clue on who owns the property though.
I don’t have the exact street address, but it was in the Bexley/Whitehall neighborhood of Eastern Columbus on Broad Street, near a shopping center also called Town & Country.
It’s last attempt at operation was in the mid-90’s, when the Cinema'n'Drafthouse chain remodeled and reopened it as a second-run movie restaurant. It closed in six months.
Actually, the Florence Mall complex was originally built by Mid-States. (National Amusements ultimately bought out all their theatres in the Greater Cincinnati area, which may be the cause of confusion here) It started out as a (for the era) state of the art 6 plex, then expanded to it’s current 8.
General Cinema had many theatres designed like this in Columbus now gone: the Town & Country and the Great Western for example. All were free-standing single screens later twinned. And all are now gone.
If I recall correctly, what finally doomed the University City was not just GC’s pullout, but a large flood of water (pipe burst?) that so damaged the interior that anyone who wanted to perhaps take on the property was scared off by the repair bills.
The Western Woods cinema was a General Cinema operation, a single screen adjacent to a mall in a then-popular shopping district in Cincinnati. (I want to say it was Glenway Avenue) It was closed by the late ‘70’s and likely got absorbed into the mall as more store space. But I remember seeing a couple Disney movies there as a small child.
The Westwood was the single split into a twin as the above writer states.
Actually, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW played at another downtown theatre operated by Mid-States, the Skywalk on Vine St. I went there numerous times to see it. That theatre got demolished for what was the Fountain Square West project, and I believe a new Lazarus department store stands on that site.
The Hollywood was a beautiful single screen that was split into a twin in the ‘80’s. It was on a bus route so I could go there easily by myself as a teenager, which I did often.
An interesting story: In the last years of its operation, to thwart rowdy types who had been frequenting and disrupting the theatre, they temporarily switched to an “art/classics” format. I was told they used dual projectors in both houses, and as such were able to get access to prints usually not leased out to platter houses. The experiment did not last long and they went back to second-run fare after a month and a half. I wonder if indeed the “gangbanger” types wandered in during that period, and/or stuck around for something like Truffaut’s THE STORY OF ADELE H., which I saw there during that brief time.
The Mariemont is now a 3-screen theatre operated by the same people who run the Esquire in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati. Their official website is www.mariemonttheatre.com
I’ve always heard Johnny Legend and others refer to this theatre as the “Hawaiian Gardens” (which always threw me because this place is nowhere near the actual L.A. suburb of Hawaiian Gardens). I suppose that was a tie-in to the popular Florentine Gardens nightclub next door.
Now that there is a dustup involving the city wanting to seize the Florentine Gardens property for a new fire station, does anyone know if that would include this building as well?
This and the Vogue theatre have had their leases taken over by club owner and film producer Elie Samaha, and he is not interested in reopening them as theatres, sad to say.
I guess it can be told now. Elie Samaha, who created White Lotus and the Sunset Room (and owns Franchise Pictures), bought the remaining years of the original leases that Mann had on both the Vogue and the Iris (a/k/a Fox) on Hollywood Blvd. I think this covers only the theatres, not the actual land; that may still be tied up with the Mann heirs. And he is dead set on turning them into nightclubs; he even turned down an offer from Sage Stallone (co-owner of repertory company Grindhouse Releasing, and son of Sylvester, who has made films for Samaha) to rehab one or both of them.
These are actually two separate theatre buildings in separate shopping centers that, in their last decade of operation, were deceptively linked together as “one theatre” by then-operators Mid-States Theatres, maybe for the purpose of simplifying their location in the public mind.
Originally, the Tri-County Theatre at 11500 Princeton Pike was a three screen theatre near the Cassinelli Square shopping center, and the twin down the street at 11670 Princeton Pike was part of the Princeton Plaza shopping center and called the Princeton. In 1980, two additional screens were added to the Tri-County and it was rechristened the 1-5, while the Princeton’s name was changed to the Tri-County 6-7.
The 1-5 has been demolished. The 6-7 was gutted and a chain bookstore now occupies that space.
In it’s final days, it had changed it’s name to the Roxy, and operated as a sort of second-tier art house, playing movies that either the Drexel Theatres (Columbus' prime art theatres) didn’t want to play, or had already played out but still had a little business left in them. They also did a lot of interesting midnight movies, premiereing many Troma films. The last movie they played was Vincent Ward’s VIGIL.
In the early ‘90’s, cult musician/wrestling promoter/Andy Kaufman collaborator Johnny Legend presented movie events on one of the screens of the X, which I believe was renamed the Hawaiian Gardens to tie in with the Florentine Gardens nightclub that was next door. Legend says that at least once, the manager of the place got violent with him, which explains why his movie nights did not go on for very long.
At last look, the building is still standing, if someone felt brave enough to give it another go. No clue on who owns the property though.
I don’t have the exact street address, but it was in the Bexley/Whitehall neighborhood of Eastern Columbus on Broad Street, near a shopping center also called Town & Country.
It’s last attempt at operation was in the mid-90’s, when the Cinema'n'Drafthouse chain remodeled and reopened it as a second-run movie restaurant. It closed in six months.
Actually, the Florence Mall complex was originally built by Mid-States. (National Amusements ultimately bought out all their theatres in the Greater Cincinnati area, which may be the cause of confusion here) It started out as a (for the era) state of the art 6 plex, then expanded to it’s current 8.
General Cinema had many theatres designed like this in Columbus now gone: the Town & Country and the Great Western for example. All were free-standing single screens later twinned. And all are now gone.
If I recall correctly, what finally doomed the University City was not just GC’s pullout, but a large flood of water (pipe burst?) that so damaged the interior that anyone who wanted to perhaps take on the property was scared off by the repair bills.
The Western Woods cinema was a General Cinema operation, a single screen adjacent to a mall in a then-popular shopping district in Cincinnati. (I want to say it was Glenway Avenue) It was closed by the late ‘70’s and likely got absorbed into the mall as more store space. But I remember seeing a couple Disney movies there as a small child.
The Westwood was the single split into a twin as the above writer states.
I think XvXMatthewXvX was talking about the Fox California in San Jose that was being remodeled, according to LarryS.
I hope that is indeed true.
Actually, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW played at another downtown theatre operated by Mid-States, the Skywalk on Vine St. I went there numerous times to see it. That theatre got demolished for what was the Fountain Square West project, and I believe a new Lazarus department store stands on that site.
The Hollywood was a beautiful single screen that was split into a twin in the ‘80’s. It was on a bus route so I could go there easily by myself as a teenager, which I did often.
An interesting story: In the last years of its operation, to thwart rowdy types who had been frequenting and disrupting the theatre, they temporarily switched to an “art/classics” format. I was told they used dual projectors in both houses, and as such were able to get access to prints usually not leased out to platter houses. The experiment did not last long and they went back to second-run fare after a month and a half. I wonder if indeed the “gangbanger” types wandered in during that period, and/or stuck around for something like Truffaut’s THE STORY OF ADELE H., which I saw there during that brief time.
The Mariemont is now a 3-screen theatre operated by the same people who run the Esquire in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati. Their official website is www.mariemonttheatre.com
The plan may be to close it down, but so far, the theatre is still open, thankfully.